Coronavirus

Coronavirus in Illinois: 4 Chicago-Area Schools Closed Over Exposure Concerns

The most recent institution to shut its doors was Resurrection College Prep High School

Note: Chicago Public Schools will hold a briefing at 11:30 a.m. CT. Watch it live in the player above.

At least four schools in the Chicago area have closed Tuesday over an uptick in confirmed cases of coronavirus.

The most recent institution to shut its doors was Resurrection College Prep High School, which said a "member of our school community was in contact with a person who was diagnosed with COVID 19."

Students at the school were dismissed at 10 a.m. and school was canceled on Wednesday.

"This will give us time to perform a deep cleaning of our school," the school said in a statement. "We have the necessary equipment to do so and such a process takes two days."

Resurrection College Prep High School is "the largest single-gender female Catholic school on the North Side of Chicago," according to the school's website.

At least three schools in the Chicago area were closed Tuesday over an uptick in confirmed cases of coronavirus. Sandra Torres reports.

Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School in the Lake View East neighborhood on Chicago's North Side was also closed Tuesday.

The parent of a student from the school tested positive for coronavirus, the school said in a letter to parents early Tuesday. School officials said the Illinois Department of Public Health did not require the closure, but the school would cancel all classes and and activities out of an abundance of caution.

Bernard Zell officials clarified in the letter that no student or staff member was diagnosed with the virus, and that they believed the risk to students and faculty remained low, based on conversations with medical experts.

Also in Chicago, Vaughn Occupational High School on the North Side remained closed after a teacher's aide was diagnosed with the coronavirus. The patient, a Chicago woman in her 50s who was hospitalized in stable condition, recently disembarked from the Grand Princess cruise ship in California, where 21 people on board tested positive for the coronavirus, officials announced Friday.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker declared a disaster proclamation Monday over the coronavirus outbreak as an additional four cases were reported in Chicago. NBC 5's Dick Johnson reports.

In north suburban Wilmette, Loyola Academy canceled classes Tuesday for the second day in a row after school officials learned that a student and the student's family had contact with someone who later tested positive for the virus.

Also in the north suburbs, Lake Forest School District 67 and Lake Forest High School District 115 officials raised concerns Monday after a faculty member at the high school reported she had attending a meeting at Vaughn Occupational High School before the aide had tested positive, according to a message on the district's website from the superintendent.

"Our faculty member attending an evening meeting at Vaughn High School that was held in a room where the aide had been present during the day. The aide was not in attendance at that meeting," the message reads.

Hand sanitizer is flying off shelves because of concerns over the coronavirus, but if you can’t find the substance at your local store, you can still make your own to help keep your hands clean until you can find it again. NBC 5's Charlie Wojciechowski explains how.

The superintendent said the faculty member has not exhibited any symptoms and would be self-quarantined for 14 days, but that health officials said no further action was necessary outside enhanced cleaning protocols.

Illinois health officials announced Monday that four new coronavirus cases had been confirmed, bringing the state's total to 11 as Gov. J.B. Pritzker declared a disaster proclamation over the outbreak.

The new cases involve two women in their 50s and 70s who are relatives of the Chicago Public Schools aide diagnosed on March 6. The women are not connected to Vaughn Occupational High School, however, health officials said.

The third case is a woman in her 50s, who is from California but traveled to Illinois. The fourth case is a woman in her 70s who returned earlier this month from an Egyptian cruise linked to COVID-19 cases.

All four women were in good condition and in isolation, health officials said.

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